Shahnama Project : Shahnama

Firdausi

Shahnama Project

<p style='text-align: justify;'><p>This manuscripts is combined of two texts-- the Shahnama (fol. 6v-309r, 22 illustrations), and the Samnama (fol. 310v-371v, 17 illustrations). The Shahnama starts with the reign of Luhrasp and continues until the end of the epic. The manuscript has been preserved in complete order and with the original binding. The colophon on fol. 178r states that this is the end of the third daftar. This means that the manuscript is the second volume of a larger commission, which presumably included the first part of the epic in a separate volume.</p><p>All the catch-words in the Shahnama fit. The Samnama, however, lacks catch-words on fols. 310v-317v. Nevertheless, it seems to be complete. Each of the two texts ends with a dated colophon. All the illustrations in the manuscript were produced in the same style, which is easily identified with 19th-century Kashmiri painting. The manuscript includes two dated colophons.</p><p>6v Illuminated unvan- SN- Reign of Luhrasp</p><p>178r End of third daftar.</p><p>179v Illuminated unvan- SN- Reign of Kisra Anushirvan</p><p>309r Colophon at the end of the SN, 1249 AH/1833-4 CE</p><p>310v Illuminated unvan- Samnama</p><p>371v Colophon at the end of the Samnama 23 Sha'ban 1251 AH/ 14 December 1835 AD</p><p>Folio 150v was on display at the exhibition: "Collecting Paradise: Buddhist Art of Kashmir and Its Legacies", curated by Prof. Rob Linrothe. The Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, January-April 2015.</p><p>Researched by Bilha Moor.</p></p>